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Selene
Selene Kurland is the secondary main character and Baltoh's love interest. She takes three forms throughout the book. Initially, she is a regular human, then after her death, she becomes an Angel, and after Baltoh becomes the Celestial Avatar, he turns her into one of his Valkyries. Appearance Selene is an African-American woman in her mid-twenties, with a chocolate-shade complexion, long straight hair, and bright green eyes. She has an athletic figure, granted by a near religious devotion to her gym. After she becomes an Angel, her varying outfits are replaced with a white Angel's uniform, consisting of a dress open along sides and baggy pants. These clothes let her move with great agility and maneuverability, great for combat situations. Since she is only an Angel, she lacks rosary chains on her wrists but has white feathered wings growing from her back and a gold halo above her head. After becoming one of Baltoh's Valkyries, she is given a set of armor that helps boost her powers. On top of a liquid-metal chassis, each piece and plate fits together like reptilian scales, but with full, solid protection like regular plating. Her halo is replaced with solar systems, quite similar to the galaxy above Baltoh’s head, with a fist-sized star and ten planets orbiting around it, five going around in one direction and five going in the other. Her armor is a deep midnight blue with gold lining and decorated with constellations of diamonds. On the chest plate is the Ouroboros symbol. Her wings gain a mercury membrane in place of their feathers. The helmet, similar to motorcycle helmet, has tinted glass, but Selene's eyes can be seen, glowing with energy. Personality and History Selene is a kind and free-spirited woman, always in search of new and interesting challenges to test her limits, even if it's just finishing a crossword puzzle before getting to work. Her school life was spent engaged in multiple clubs and groups, thriving on the pressure rather than being overwhelmed. She moved to New York since she thought it would be interesting but was forced to get a cubicle job. This desire has left her perpetually bored and unsatisfied with her life, unable to find the stimulus she needs in the world around her. While she loves her brother, Marcus, she tries to avoid him due to his innate talent for pushing her buttons, even making him sleep in his car rather than letting him stay in her apartment. She does, however, know how to deal with him, trying to minimize his interest in Baltoh by claiming that, as a Green Berret, he could beat him in a fight, though when he refuses to give up, she changes her position to tease him, bragging about how he saved her from three men. Baltoh saved her when she was being mugged and carried home, and while semi-conscious, she found him handsome. Initially, she felt some fear towards Baltoh, due to him being half-Demon and how easy he could kill people, though she was also grateful to him for saving her. What first drew her to him was his uniqueness, as his existence, history, and personality made him the more any interesting than any human she could possibly find and allowed her to escape the monotony of the physical world. As she got to know him, her respect and admiration truly bloomed, finding his personality and beliefs to be an ideal match to her own. She was also aware of the damage to his soul, brought on by his Hellish existence, even becoming overwhelmed with emotions when she saw Baltoh's reaction to listening to music for the first time. When they were first intimate and Baltoh suffered his breakdown, Selene was able to calm him, promising that she would help him figure out who he was, help him grow stronger as a person, and help remove some of the hatred in his heart and teach him to find joy outside of violence. Once their relationship was established, her courage grew, letting her endure the chaos engulfing the city. When Baltoh faced the Demons Abaddon had summoned, she was able to remain calm with her office building in the crossfire. Before the Demons initiated their doorway ritual, Abaddon captured her, forcing her to watch as Molly was raped and tortured. It hardened her heart, and she resolved to not let that happen to anyone else. Soon after, she was killed by a Demon, but before her soul could be destroyed, thus erasing her existence, Jehovah saved her and turned her into an Angel in order to ensure Baltoh's cooperation. Selene becomes very protective of Molly after they come back as Angels, showing no hesitation in fighting against a Demon to keep her safe, regardless of how badly she is injured in the process. When battling Ziraal, she refuses to give up hope or even accept the possibility of death. She and Molly establish a dual fighting style, even learning to combine their powers for enhanced attacks. She shows a strong affinity for combat, finding it to be the ultimate challenge for her. She feels that her life is most valuable when she's fighting for it, even drawing excitement from an injury as it makes the fight more challenging and requires extra effort to compensate. Like Baltoh, she fights to protect the people of the city and suffers from the sight of so many people dying, but she does admit to him that taking part in the war is the most fun she'd ever had. When she becomes aware of Rosemary's feelings for Baltoh, rather than becoming territorial, she tries to befriend her. Since Baltoh considers Rosemary to be like family, she wants the two of them to have a similar relationship and manages to form a trust, even adding Rosemary to the combat dyad she had formed with Molly. When Baltoh fights Amon, she works together with Rosemary and Molly to heal him and restore his stamina so he can use the Ragnarök technique. She and Molly join the Archangels in the fight against Legion, even managing to land some attacks after drawing power from the relic shield. During the battle, Legion kills many of the Angels and Archangels and wounds the rest, and even while injured, she is the first to get back on her feet and resume fighting. She fires a blast of Angelic energy at Legion and encourages everyone else to join her. They channel all of their power into her and she manages to kill the monster. Exhausted by the battle, she breaks down in tears when the portal begins to open, believing it to be the end of the world. When Baltoh breaks his shackles and rosary binds, she implores him to stop, believing he will die. In the Desert of Sloth, she comes under the influence of Prince Belphagor, and her deep-buried worries begin to manifest. She becomes fearful of Baltoh's new existence as a god, worried that he, a divine being, will lose interest in her and leave her behind. Sensing her unease, he erases her fears. After being separated from Baltoh, she ends up trapped with Michael in the stomach of Baal, Prince of Gluttony. Michael asks her for advice, having met a predecessor Archangel from God's homeworld and come to realize the truth of God's origins and actions. He asks her if she would have done what he and the other Original Seven Archangels did, if Baltoh ever asked her to take part in something like the Christ plot. She manages to convince him to break free of God and embrace freedom as Baltoh had always preached. The two of them manage to escape from Baal, Selene killing the Hell Prince using Ragnarök. Abilities and Equipment Intuition More than once, Baltoh and the Archangels are impressed by Selene's talent for understanding ethereal physics, even with minimal prior knowledge of it. She was able to predict the Demon's intention of harnessing the built up malice and anger for their portal, she theorized the dynamics of the portal process, and she even helped Baltoh perform his experiments in his search for the Throne of Cinereo. She was even able to help uncover the ritual that the Coven used to create Ghouls. Angel Powers As an Angel, she was granted greater strength, speed, and reflexes, as well as enhanced kinesthesia, allowing her to fight Gargoyles with advanced martial arts skills and gymnast-like agility. She also received the ability to use Angel powers, such as healing and energy blasts. With these new powers, she resolved to join the fight in the coming war, much to Baltoh's dismay, and even sparred with him to prove she had what it took to fight the forces of darkness. She creates an unnamed technique that she uses with Molly and Rosemary. She joins hands with her partner and they stand back to back, letting their energy frequencies fall into sync. When perfected, it produces a blast greater than the powers of the two users when regularly combined. It was especially powerful when she used it with Rosemary, even though Rosemary had to hold her own strength back in order to join forces with Selene. Valkyrie Powers When Baltoh brings everyone to Hell for his campaign against Tennebrous, he transforms her into a "Valkyrie", turning her back into a living person but with a far stronger body and greater powers. As a Valkyrie, she is able to harness the power of the elements and even use the Ragnarök technique. As a Valkyrie, she has powers well above the level of Titans and Masters of Torture. With regular spells, she is capable of changing the topography of Hell and her Ragnarök blast was capable of destroying Baal, Prince of Gluttony. Armor Selene's armor grants her multiple abilities, beyond simply boosting her Cinereous power. It offers an airtight seal, something which was needed when she was trapped in the stomach of Baal, and offers great protection even from Masters of Torture. With the armor, she wields a massive cleaver, a blade that's shaped like a bow with the handle in place of the string.